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Medical Xpress / Working memory rapidly updates its priorities after distractions, study finds

When humans tackle many everyday tasks, ranging from driving to completing household chores and work assignments, they rely heavily on working memory. This is the brain's ability to temporarily store and manipulate important ...

Jul 26, 2026
Dialog / Near a black hole, gravity changes a quantum circuit's readings, not its rules

Imagine holding one of our most precise quantum devices at a fixed position outside a black hole. A Josephson junction—two superconductors separated by an ultrathin barrier—can turn a voltage into a quantum oscillation with ...

Jul 26, 2026
Phys.org / Kindness emerges intuitively in young children before reflection catches up, study finds

While humans are inherently social beings, psychology studies suggest that their social skills are gradually fine-tuned over time and with experience. Understanding when different social skills emerge and how they typically ...

Jul 22, 2026
Phys.org / Pennsylvania roads are being coated in radioactive wastewater—here's why

Pennsylvania's roughly 100,000 oil and gas wells produce wastewater that's many times saltier than seawater and contains radium, a known carcinogen. For decades, that saltwater, called brine, was spread on dirt and gravel ...

Jul 27, 2026
Phys.org / 'I can't work in the farce of climate change cruise tourism anymore': Why Antarctic guides quit their dream jobs

In the words of a former Antarctic tour guide we interviewed: "You'd see massive glacier calvings, and you'd just want to cry. But all the guests would be cheering. And you'd be like … 'can you not put two and two together?'"

Jul 25, 2026
Phys.org / Microscale roughness breakthrough defies 80 years of fluid dynamics

Logically, you would think a sleek surface has optimal aerodynamics—but recent research at Tohoku University turns this fundamental principle on its head. Applying an irregular microscale surface texture reduced the aerodynamic ...

Jul 22, 2026
Phys.org / Removing 'forever chemicals' from farmlands—at a fraction of the cost

A Yale-led research team has proposed a less expensive—and more environmentally friendly—method for removing certain "forever chemicals" from millions of acres of farmland in the United States and around the world.

Jul 22, 2026
Medical Xpress / Human brainpower may get boost from immune cells that mature slowly

Microglia are the most common immune cells in the brain, where they defend against intruders and engulf damaged neurons. Now, scientists at Columbia's Zuckerman Institute have discovered for the first time that, just like ...

Jul 27, 2026
Phys.org / Gamma-ray pulsations reveal extreme 3.2-millisecond pulsar 3,900 light-years away

By analyzing the data from NASA's Fermi gamma-ray space telescope, Chinese astronomers have investigated a recently identified millisecond pulsar known as PSR J0435+3233. As a result, they found that the pulsar exhibits gamma-ray ...

Jul 26, 2026
Phys.org / Angola's oldest burials, including its only known ancient cremation, uncovered at a 15th-century site doomed by a dam

As the construction of a hydroelectric dam loomed, archaeologists raced to uncover Angola's earliest dated burials and its only known cremation at a 15th-century settlement before it vanished beneath the water.

Jul 26, 2026
Phys.org / Sharks, spines and speed: The hidden architecture behind different swimming styles revealed

"Shark Week," which kicks off this week, has captivated audiences for decades with stories of these powerful ocean predators. But the secret behind their extraordinary swimming abilities lies far deeper than their impressive ...

Jul 27, 2026
Medical Xpress / Omalizumab allows children with multiple food allergies eat trigger foods safely

About a third of children with multiple food allergies gained the ability to safely eat full servings of foods that trigger their allergies in a new Stanford Medicine-led clinical trial. The results were published in JAMA ...

Jul 27, 2026